Sterling powers up past 1.3 for third straight session

Sterling rose against the dollar to the highest since August 4, rebounding for the ninth session out of eleven away from the lowest since June 27, following earlier data from Britain and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 04:44 GMT, GBP/USD rose 0.37% to 1.3091 from the opening of 1.3043, with an intraday low at 1.3033, and a five-week high at 1.3116. 

Earlier UK data showed the Halifax house price index accelerated to 1.1% in August from 0.7% in July, revised upwards from 0.4%, while analysts expected a slowdown to 0.2%. 

Otherwise, earlier US data showed unemployment claims rose past expectations to 298 thousand, marking the highest since March, 2015, while the final readings for non-farm productivity and labor unit costs showed an acceleration of the former and a growth slowdown of the later in the second quarter.